Meaning and Existential Psychology

The psychology of meaning has never been more relevant than in the current age of societal uncertainty. We find ourselves in an endless crossfire of information, where every angle on every issue is accessible at a keystroke and worldviews can shift in a 24-hour news cycle. To address the psychological implications of this unique era, a small group conference on Meaning and Existential Psychology is being held at Tilburg University in Tilburg, Holland, October or November 2011. This is a joint Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI)-European Association of Social Psychology (EASP) conference, and will focus on the ways that people find meaning in their experiences, along with the ways that these meaning frameworks allow us to make sense of ourselves, our world and our relation to it. We aim to present a comprehensive summary of the meaning literature as it addresses essential existential concerns, including free will, mortality, uncertainty, and the desire for happiness and well-being.

Potential attendees must be members of SPSSI or EASP or both.

Abstracts (300 words) should be submitted by email to Travis Proulx (travis_proulx@sfu.ca), by the deadline of May 31, 2011.

The cost of registration and attendance will be offset by funding support provided by SPSSI, EASP and Tilburg University.